Molding machine and mold for the centrifugal casting of annular bodies



May 23. 193 w. BREMICKE 2,159 013 MOLDING MACHINE AND MOLD FOR THE QBNTR'IFUGAL CASTING OI'KANNULAR BODIES Filed Oct. s, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 16 I 45- 11 f" 15 25 21 Si v v 3" l 3 f 1, 6 t an 2.0 i 8 l 19 n 1o f Eli AIIILU rim mu y 2 1939- Y I w. BREMICKER 2,159,073

MOLDING MACHINE AND MOLD FOR THE CENTRIFUGAL CASTING OF ANNULAR BODIES Fileq Oct. 6, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 23,1939

UNITED STATES MOLDING MACHINE AND MOLD FOR; THE

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING -F ANNULAR BODIES Walter Bremicker, Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany Application October 6, 1936, Serial No. 104,265

In January 17, 1936 a 3 Claims. (CI. 22-85) An application was filed in Germany on January 17, 1936.

The present invention relates to molding machines and molds for the centrifugal casting of 5 annular; bodies, and more particularly to the casting in this manner of thin annular plates of metal (brass, bronze, German silver and the like), which are intended to be cut into strips and then to be worked up into wire. In casting processes of this kind it is necessary, in the first place. to provide suitable .molds which are rotatable about a horizontal axis and are made up of two detachable parts so as to render it possible to remove the casting after the setting of the molten metal which is introduced into the hollow space between the two parts of the mold. The intrm duction of the molten metal into the mold is effected in a manner known per se through the medium of an inlet member which is arranged in the cover of the mold and which is conically enlarged towards one end, but which must be cons'tructed and mounted independently of the cover of the mold in order that it may be enabledto rotate at the'same speed asthe other parts of the mold or at a speed which is diiferent therefrom. Besides this the inlet member is arranged in known manner so as to be longitudinally displaceable. Y

Some of the known molding machines have a rotating, shaft journalled horizontally in the frame of the machine and molds arranged at the two ends of the shaft and each comprising a base portion and a cover, and are further provided with separately driven inlet members whichare conically enlarged towards one end and are so located in openings provided in the covers of the molds as to leave in each case an annular space between the enlarged end of the inlet member and the cover of the mold of such width that the air heated by the entering molten metal can emerge without hindrance in countercurrent to the latter and without crossing i-t.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide an improvement in the known molds of the last named kind for centrifugal casting and to provide means for more advantageously carrying out the whole of theworking process, which latter is known per se, the said process being also further facilitated by a hereinafter described improvement of the casting molds with regard to the materialof which they are made. The molding machine forming the subject of the invention is intended, for the purpose of attaining the maximum economy in working, to

render possible a continuous working with the highest possible rate of succession of the indi- For this reason the vidual casting operations. molds described and illustrated can and must, in addition to the construction herein shown, be provided with means known per se for cooling the molds during the casting operation. The said cooling may be eife'cted according to choice by the aid of pressure air or pressure water.

Practice has shown that with such cooling of the molds a rapid succession of the casting operations can be attained, but this is only so attained at the cost of the lasting properties of the molds manufactured as was hitherto the case of cast iron, steel or cooper, with or without insertions, consisting of interchangeably arranged plates of a nature particularly resistant to the action of the heat of the molten material which a mold is provided which is particularly suitable for continuous working with the mold machine under consideration. It has been discovered that so-called heat-resistant steel of particular composition meets all the requirements hereinbefore set forth for a manufacturing material for the molds under consideration.

It is to be understood that the heat-resistant steel must be particularly adapted for the present particular application in such manner that it is able to withstand the suddenly occurring strong heating when the molten metal is poured into the mold and the strong cooling by means of pressure air or pressure waterfollowing thereupon. In order to impart to it particularly great resisting properties it may beemployed not only in the cast condition, but also rolled, forged or hardened. It is also possible with water or air cooled molds, the bodies of which consist of other materials such as cast iron, to employ instead of inner mold walls or insertions consisting of copper plates or the like, plates made of the new material.

A preferred constructional form according to the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a molding machine constructed according to the invention, taken on line I-I of Fig. 2,

means of a pulley 4 and a belt 5. On the shaft I centrifugal casting molds are arranged at the right and left hand sides, the said molds bein carried on mold supporting members 6. The said mold, supporting members 6 are fixed on the ends of the shaft I and each carry a member 1 constituting the base portion of, the mold, the cover 8 of which is detachablyc'onncted in amanner known per se by means of clamping members (not shown on the drawings) with thesaid base portions.

The cover 8 of the mold is provided with a acehtr'alo'pening into which an inlet-member 9 is fitted which is rotatably mounted and driven in the manner hereinafter described. The inlet member '9 is provided with a bore and is conically enlarged towards one end. Into the bore of the said inlet member 9 the nozzle of a pouring head I projects, by means of which the molten metal which is to be fed into the mold is introduced through the inlet member in a particular manner for carrying out the process above referred to, as is more closely described hereinafter.

The inlet member 9 is driven through the medium of a shaft II, a pulley I2 and a belt I3 which are in turn driven by a pulley I4 provided On the shaft I. The shaft II is journalledl in hangers I5 which are fixed to supporting members I6 which on their part are fixed at the' bottom to the frame 3 and held in position at the top by means of transverse connecting members II. The inlet member 9 itself is mounted so as to be easily rotatable in suitable bearings I8 and is constructed so as to form a chain wheel I9 at its outer end, around which a driving chain 29, indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, passes, the said chain also passing around a chain wheel 2I mounted on a shaft 22 which is driven by the shaft II.

For the purpose of protection against molten metal which might spurt from the. molds, p'rotecting covers 24 are provided. The bearings I9 for the inlet member 9 and the bearings 23 for the shafts 22 are fixed to the said protecting covers 24 which latter are provided with reinforcing rings 25 which'surround the centrifugal casting molds I, 8,- the said protecting covers being so arranged that they can be swung on one side as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, when it is necessary to dismantle or reassemble the molds 1, 8. This swinging movement of the covers 24 is rendered possible by mounting them through the medium of bearings 21 so as to be capable of turning about vertical axles or rods 26 (Figs. 2 and 3). The rods 26 are mounted in bearing blocks 29 which are screwed onto the walls I6 of the frame. 'Each protecting cover 24. is secured 'block 9| and is provided with an extension 30 serving as a handle for swinging open the cover 2,4. The projection 29 is provided with ahousing '32 in the interior of which a compression spring is arranged, which is adapted to press a pin 33 into a recess provided in the bearing block 3|.

The pin 93 must be pulled upwards before the protecting cover 24 is swimg open. The shaft II is connected in the working position with the shafts 22 on each side bymeans of a simple claw coupling (Fig. 1). When the protecting coversv 24 are swung open the couplings disengage auto- As can readily be seen from Fig. 4 the inlet member 9 is so arranged as to leave suflicient space free between it and the edges of the opening in the cover 8 of the molds as to enable the air which is displaced by the entry of the molten metal into the mold and which is strongly heated and consequently expands considerably, to escape. In order to enable the escape of the air to take place freely and in' a reliable manner-the inner end of the inlet member 9-is located a short distance in front of the surrounding wall of the cover 8 in order that the space between the inlet 'member 9 and the opening in'the cover 8 shall always be kept free from the entering metal and that the air which is forced out shall find a clear path and escape in countercurrent to the metal without crossing the path of the latter.

This arrangement which is known per se is elaborated in a manner known per se by arrang-. ing the inlet member 9 so that it is longitudinally movable within certain limits in order to render it possible to adjust the flow of the molten metal into the mold by narrowing or broadening the space between the end of the said inlet member 9 and the inner wall of the base portion I of the mold, .through which space the metal has to pass. The said space can thus be adjustedfto suit the working conditions existent at any given time, for example it may be adjusted to suit the specific gravity of the metal which is to be cast, in order to ensure proper undisturbed flow of the metal into the mold.

The aforesaid adjustability of the inlet member 9 in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 4 is rendered possible in the constructional example under consideration by arranging the protecting cover 24 on which the inlet member is mounted through the medium of the bearing I8.

so that it can be displaced within the necessary limits after fixing screws 35 have been loosened. For this purpose the bearing members 29 and 3| of the protecting cover 24 are provided with slots (see Fig. 2) and are guided (see also Fig. 3) by to the'dnwardly inclined wall of the said inlet member and allowed to travel onward over the latter, but that in contradistinction to this the member 9 operates during the introduction of the molten metal in another manner as hereinafter explained.

From the pouring head I9 (Figs. 1 and a) the metal is conducted through the tubular extension or nozzle (Figs. 1 and 4) of the said pouring head downwards in an inclined direction in.

such manner that it strikes rapidly and in the form of a broad stream against the inner V8117 of the rotating base portion 1 of the mold. In

consequence of the impact of the stream of metal on the one hand and of the acceleration due to rotation when the stream strikes the base portion 1 of the mold on the other hand, the result is attained that the molten metal only spreads over-the inner wall of the said base portion I. The'inlet member 9 serves principally to prevent the metal which is introduced in abroad stream from being thrown back on to the cover 8 upon striking upon the inner wall I of the mold. If this latter contingency were allowed to arise the result would be that the path of the air along the cover 8 to the space between the inlet member and the said cover would be blocked. This, however, is eii'ectually prevented by the projecting edge of the inlet member. Any jets of metal which may be thrown back when the stream of metal strikes the inner side of the base portion I are caught by the inlet member .9 and passed back into the stream of metal. If the entering stream of metal is thicker than the passage for the latter between the edge of the inlet member 9 and the wall of the base portion 1 of the mold, the-inlet member 9 then operates in theflrst place as a collecting vessel for the accumulating metal whilst serving at the same time as a funnel for introducing the metal into said inlet members arranged on said protecting covers; and supporting members on said protecting covers displaceable in slots in said frame in such manner that the position of ,said inlet members with regard to said protecting covers can be adjusted axially tosuit different conditions.

2. In a mold. machine of the kind referred to, the subcombination of: a frame; molds mounted on said frame; protecting covers for said molds, said covers being carried by said frame and surrounding said molds; inlet members for said molds rotatably carried by said covers; means for rotating said molds; inlet members for said molds rotatably carried by said protecting covers; means for rotating said members, said means including rotatable shafts carried by said covers; means operable by said mold-rotating means for rotating said shafts and chain mechanism transmitting the motion of said shafts to said inlet members.

3. In a molding machine of the kind .referred to, the subcombination of: a frame; molds mounted on said frame; vertical axles on said frame; protecting covers for said molds swingably mounted on said axles; rotatable inlet members for said molds carried by said protecting covers; means for rotating said-molds; means for rotating said members, said means including rotatable shafts journalled in said covers, said shafts being operatively connected to said inlet members; means operable by said mold-rotating means, for rotating said shafts; and claw couplings between said shafts and said lastementioned means adapted to be disengaged when said protecting covers are swung outwardly.

' WALTER BREMICKER. 

